Javelin Facility
by Tanthachon25
Summary: Far to the deep south, past the Ziebran deserts and the rolling grasslands that merge into the tundras, is the Othellitan Defence Line, a military formation known only by the princesses and those who man the line. This is the tale of three pilots and their role in the struggle to keep the great changeling hive confined to the southern polar disk. This is a tale of Javelin Facility.
1. Defence Line

**Tanthachon25: Right. This is something I wrote when I was bored and is basically what I wish my copy of minecraft was like. It probably will coincide with**

Take a look at the galaxy.

At first, that disc of light looks cold and unforgiving. A spiral of innumerable white pinpricks whirling its way slowly through infinity. If you had a time machine, you might set it to 2000 A.D. Terran years, and you might be able to see, if you went in deep into the heart of the western spiral arm on the south side of the great rift, and going in further to an unregarded yellow sun encased in a cloud of ice and comet shrapnel, you might be able to see a tiny flicker of golden light radiating from the dark side of the third planet, the only clue of life amongst the darkness. Scroll forward 38,000 years, and this star system changes. The third planet is no longer as beautiful as it once was, dominated by artificial lights and cocooned in a mantle consisting of thousands of orbital defence stations and colossal star forts.

Zoom out now, so that system is no more than an invisible dot on the galaxy. It has changed too. The western spiral has shifted round slightly. The central mass of stars has grown slightly, a mini-galaxy swirling near its centre. To the galactic southeast lies a section of bright, young stars, while to the east the Cygnus Arm is ridden with holes. If one were to zoom in here they would see war-ravaged systems and planets cast into darkness or reduced to rubble. To the galactic north, the void is stained red by something resembling a great dark eye gazing down on the galaxy, the point where reality itself has been shattered. If one could scan the area for life, vast sections of the galaxy would be picked out in gold, stretching across almost two-thirds of the galaxy. This is the Third Terran Imperium, the domain of man. Dots of blue appear, strewn haphazardly around the galactic disc, many of them moving apparently slowly through the heavens. These are the Craftworlds of the ancient Eldar. To the southeast, the young stars there come to life with orange, denoting the position of the young Tau Empire. But the most ominous indication is the thick tentacles of red that are striking up from the galactic south, spearheading into the galaxy's heart. These are the vanguards of the great devourer.

And far away to the galactic northwest, past the ghoul stars, right on the edge of the Centaurus arm, out on the very edge of the darkness lies a curious star system. Within less than another millennium, it will be the head of its own dominion. Scroll back to 2000 A.D. Terran years, and zoom in on this system. Six planets orbit what appears to be an AG binary system, but when you get closer, it is clear to see that the smaller, whiter, hotter star is actually more of a brown dwarf, a large ball of gas not yet fusing, but from which a strange white glow emanates. The other star is smaller than average, and the two bodies circle tightly around a central point. This system has not been encountered by any of the galactic powers, and even if it had been,it would not have been easy to reveal the true nature of the binary system.

For inside the orbit of these two stars, exactly on the barycentre of their orbits lies a planet.

One of the by-products of the efforts to make the land of Equestria comfortable to live in was the need for more solar energy. When pioneers of the species _equinox praecantatio_ first discovered the land of Equestria, fleeing north from the hostile dragons, the land was bleak and inhospitable, much colder than it is today, however it was chosen for unicornkind as their nesting place, because of the huge amount of magical power emitted by the very soil, particularly so in the mountain ranges to the north. And so, the most powerful magi, led by twin unicorn sisters, deciding that this was where they needed to be but not having the ability to survive in that environment, achieved the impossible. They lowered the orbit of the celestial bodies.

This had the desired effect of rendering equestria's climate habitable, but had severe repercussions. The first of which was that the two mage sisters had attracted the attention of the gods, who did not approve of this and chained the sisters to immortality. The second was of much greater significance. The greater immanence of sun and moon caused the energy given off by these bodies to collect in vast droves around the planet's equator, resulting in a continuous ring of burning solar energy bisecting the land, dividing north from south and splitting the planet forever.

Not all of the equines fled north from the dragons. Some fled south across the deserts, finding green lands further south. So when the curtain of solar energy was drawn across the land, they found themselves isolated. But they copes While Equestria grew and thrived, founding the higher society on the magic that Equestria generated, drawing other races such as the pegasi, buffalo and zebras like moths to a flame, the southern ponies also expanded, the small concentrations of earth, unicorn and pegasus ponies growing exponentially. They learned and grew, building towns and cities, mining down for Iron and gold, using the curious redstone to push them to new and greater heights. And so it came to pass that the southern kingdoms, headed by the mighty city of Othellitan became even more technologically advanced than Equestria.

And then the changelings hit.

The Changeling Hive Primaris is currently the largest on the planet, right at the south pole. And as the people of Othellitan advanced, the changelings clung on, tapping into the knowledge that brewed there, so that when they attacked en masse, it was the most devastating attack ever seen. The homesteaders who had headed further south to set up their homes and claim the land didn't stand a chance, colonies being wiped off the map. The changelings had copied prototype nuclear weaponry being developed deep under Othellitan, and entire colonies such as Newhaven, Thrace and Deimos were wiped clean off the map through ridiculous overkill. It was only through the creation of rudimentary non-pegasic combat craft, armed flying machines exploiting aerodynamics and the reaction of goldquartz to propel them though the air, that the changelings were pushed back. To ensure that this didn't happen again, huge investment was made to form the Othellitan Defence Line, a network of airbases, manufactoriums and support facilities to prevent the changelings pushing back. It has not been easy to do this. Casualties have been horrific. Much ground has been lost to the changelings, and every day hundreds risk and give their lives to slow them down.

A thin mist drifted over the ground, as if a blanket was being pulled over the grass. It tumbled and rolled as it swallowed up the ground, slowly creeping up the slope of a small hill, before it hit a small stream and parted, rolling up alongside the rapidly flowing water. The fog crept up to a dam, stone bricks forming an impressive wall with regular ports set into it, from which water flowed down the hill in great swathes. This was the first line of defence of Javelin Facility. The great vertical airbase was designed to make entering it a hard and dangerous task, and occupying it even more so. The land surrounding its base was riddled with tripwires and landtraps right down to the beach just south of the facility. These were mainly discouragement features rather than full-blown defences. On the northward side was an impressive dam, which not only acted as a bridge to Javelin's defence stations, but also served to keep away the Endermen. Water could be substituted with lava should Changelings attack from the north. The next line of defence was the three metre high perimeter fence. The fence was composed of the same stone bricks used by the dam, in conjunction with two-inch thick iron mesh. There was only one place where this fence was ever going to be breached, and this was in the gatehouse on the north side, which itself was only accessible via an underground tunnel under one of the streams flowing down from the dam. But the one thing that made Javelin Facility particularly hard to invade was the hangers.

All the defence outposts in the south had their own way of protecting and storing their respective aircraft. Defence Station Ramrod, a sprawling complex to the west of Javelin utilised elaborate pistons to construct service and hangar bays directly under the main aprons, and when a craft was launched, the entire roof would concertina back, allowing clear access to the air. Konoko fortress, a compact but completely self-reliant to the north-east contained its aircraft in vast caverns hollowed out from the hills to the east, and Strike Commander Konoko made a particular point of keeping their aircraft as well hidden as possible. Javelin, on the other hand, had focused their energies on creating the quickest methods of launching a response as possible. And this was what made Javelin Facility extrordinary.

The hangars were completely open to the elements, and an intricately complicated system of catwalks wound around the craft, providing servicing points and inspection galleries. However, a foot put in the wrong place could send a pony tumbling to their death, a long way down. The hangars were set up in great towering blocks, each containing a minimum of four aircraft, and the top of each stack was protected by a thick, bomb-proof obsidian shield, on which was mounted the required clamps to allow another aircraft to land. These features had made Javelin Facility the bulwark of the Othellitan Buffer Zone. Long-range missiles couldn't get a hit onto the hangars, while any approaching aircraft were picked up by radar and in less than a minute, a pair of Ironhoof fighters would be tearing towards the enemy craft. No attack had got past Javelin. Even when the changelings had pushed across the great sea with relentless force four years ago, Javelin had met the oncoming invasion force with a devastating counter-attack, ripping the dropships to shreds and making hideously low bombing runs on the landing crafts and seabases. When all other forces south had been smashed aside and asunder, Javelin had stood, covering the retreat of the defeated forces and severely blunting the Changeling spearhead. To be a pilot under the wing of Javelin Facility was to be given respect and duty beyond the call of duty.

* * *

"I'm just saying, Spanner," Aero Storm said indignantly, putting a card onto the growing pile in the centre of the table. "I've seen the kind of missiles that get lobbed over us, and their effects. Sticking a cluster missile onto an Ironhoof would be completely epic." He was a slight but well-build aquamarine pegasus, with a pale blue mane and equally blue eyes. The image of a supersonic dart could be seen under his folded wings, and a silver lance tattooed over it marked him out as a pilot.

"Recoil's just tooo big, man." Spanner Works said, shaking his head and putting a king down onto the pile, right on top of Aero's last card. He was an Earth pony slightly taller than Aero, and considerably stockier. His rust-brown mane contrasted starkly with his amber eyes, and a spanner inside a red gear on his steel-grey flank showed his engineerpony status.

"Bastard!" Shouted the third stallion around the table, a lanky brown pegasus with a swept back gunmetal-grey mane and forest-green eyes that were constantly dilated. His cutie mark was that of a firing tommy gun, and he had the same silver lance tattoo as Aero. The other two turned to see his cards, and Spanner gave a yell of triumph.

"Come on Trigger, pick up!" Aero grinned, gesturing to the huge pile of cards in the centre of the table. With an annoyed sigh, trigger happy picked up the cards and added them to his already large hoof, shuffling them absent-mindedly, as Aero began rifling through the few cards in his hand. "So anyway Spanner," he continued, turning to the Earth pony. "Some of the missiles aren't too big, are they, so why shouldn't we stick a couple of missiles into a bomber? I mean, a couple of air-to-surface EM missiles would make assaults much easier. "

"You ain't seen the bracing that goes into a tier three missile bay." Spanner said, taking one of the cards off his three-card layout in front of him and placing it on the pile.

"Wasn't there something about having lots of support frames on the really accurate ones?" Trigger asked, putting four cards onto the deck in the centre and causing the whole pile to explode into bright red flames, which blazed for a second before extinguishing and removing all trace of the cards on the pile.

"The more support framing you have to a launch pad, the more accurate the missile is." Spanner said, as Aero flipped over one of his face-down cards and placed it on the table, starting a new pile. "So the really accurate ones have loads of support to make the launch clean as possible. Mounting a launch frame on a fighter would mean you'd have to either launch from hideously low altitude or guide the missile in manually."

" I suppose Changelings mustn't have too good a support system then." Trigger snorted, as Spanner put down three queens. After a moment's thought, Trigger placed down a ten, causing the pack to once more explode into flame. "None of their missiles have ever hit dead on."

"AND FOOLISH!" Aero yelled, overturning his last card and placing it on the blank space, throwing his hooves in the air in triumph.

"Spinny blade wall! Machiavellian!" **(1)** Spanner grinned, brohoofing Aero, placing two cards down on the pile and ignoring Trigger's inquisitive gaze. Trigger looked down at the cards, and then at his own hand, sighing resolutely and picking up the pile.

"And, with that pickup the way is clear for Spanner to storm in with a nine, therefore securing the final safe place in the game and Trigger sets a new world record for the shittiest head, after losing twenty-three consecutive games." Aero cried in a mock commentary voice."

"Ahaha, very funny." Trigger laughed sarcastically. "And I'm a shithead again. Happy?"

"And there's the declaration, and it's all over for Trigger Happy." Aero continued, still commentating. Trigger placed his cards down on the table in resignation.

"Impressive." Came a voice across the empty mess hall. A stallion was sitting a few tables away from them, dark brown Stetson throwing his face into shadow, through which a pair of eyes, one green, the other silver flecked with LED flashes. "You're getting far too good for these other two Aero."

"C-Commander!" Aero stammered, hastily getting to his hooves and saluting. The other two also leapt up, snapping into a salute "We didn't see you!"

"I prefer to have people not notice me. Saves them crapping themselves whenever I walk in the door." The commander stood up, revealing himself as a gaunt but stocky unicorn, with a reddish-brown coat and a short-cut silver mane and tail. The hatchet-face wore an expression of slight irritation. "Please don't salute. It's embarrassing."

"So…you were just watching our game?" Spanner asked tentatively. The commander shrugged, cocking his head from side to side

"mm, ish." He replied. "I'm gonna need you guys. Something big is going down, and I need your help."

"_You_ need _our_ help?" Trigger asked, slightly taken aback.

"Yup. I can't give you the details now, I'm afraid. Trigger and Aero, I need you to get to the service bays, wharf delta. Chief Tech Solder Wire's waiting for you."

"Sir!" Aero and Trigger said in unison, before cantering to the door and out of sight.

"And me, commander?" Spanner asked, turning to the stallion.

"You're with me, Works." The commander smiled. "We're going to Stormcloud."

* * *

Behind the main line of defence formed by Javelin Facility, Konoko Fortress and Defence Station Ramrod are the support facilities, designed to bolster the main bases and provide everything from new aircraft to fire support. The three most significant of these are Omicron Forge, Mass Cannon Bravo and Stormcloud EWAPSC. Omicron Forge was a huge undergrond complex in a section of forest to the north-west of Ramrod, and was the main industrial centre for the whole war effort. Several huge workshops took up a large amount of space, where the prototype craft and weapons were built and tested. The rest of the facility was given over to the gigantic build systems and template-constructors. The principle was that a new aircraft would be built, and once it had become certified to go into service, the prototype would be rolled into the template-constructors, and soon after the build systems would go to work, copying the new template and producing hundreds of the new design. Anything that couldn't be built at the defence stations was built at Omicron Forge, which had in fact been the one thing that had helped Javelin expand, producing the hangars and shipping them over, where they were clamped into place.

Mass Cannon Bravo on the other hand, was a super-long range artillery station, consisting of the largest cannon in operation, second only to Mass Cannon Alpha, a front-line base destroying weapon which was destroyed to stop it falling into enemy hands when the changelings had pushed across the sea four years ago. Mass Cannon Bravo used huge independently propelled projectiles which were tracked on radar and guided onto their target. However, Bravo was rarely used due to the complex loading mechanism.

The third of these facilities, Stormcloud EWAPSC, was a different story altogether. It stood for early warning and precision strike centre. It was also where the largest and most complex operations were commanded from. Stormcloud contained two vital assets which made it excellent for this role. The first was the master radar array. This was a huge radar array at the hub of the entire defence system. This would pick up incoming aircraft and missiles alike, and boosted by transmitters and a small fleet of range-extenging craft, covered almost the whole continent. The data from this would then be sent to facilities like Javelin or Mass Cannon Bravo, allowing them to counter incoming attacks and destroy enemy positions with devastating ease. The system was also hooked up to electromagnetic towers all along the southern defence line, which could knock incoming aircraft out of the sky before any defence was organised. The second of these assets were the missile silos. Stormcloud EWAPSC housed two-score silos and all the supporting equipment for them. Using the radar system to pick out enemy facilities, Stormcloud could deliver precision strikes right into enemy territory, and could send up anti-ballistic and EM pulse missiles to destroy incoming missiles. Any assault launched from Javelin, Ramrod or Konoko would be supported by waves of Stormcloud's missiles, while Assaulting Changeling forces would find themselves cut off from the chain of command as EM pulse and chemical missiles fell onto their own bases and radar stations. The control room of Stormcloud EWAPSC was one of the best places to launch an attack from, and with such an important operation coming up, it would be needed.

* * *

Aero and Trigger were met at the door of Service Bay Delta by the chief technician, a burly black unicorn by the name of Solder Wire who ushered them in excitedly. Despite his size and apparent meanness, Solder had an excellent sense of humour, and was grinning heartily. The service bay was similar in size to the hangars next to it, except it was walled off, open at one end. In the bay's service cradle, amongst a junkyard of spare parts, offcuts, welding tools and armour bricks was the chassis of an Ironhoof interceptor, the last few armour plates being fused in by techponies.

"The commander told me you'd need a bird to drop a couple of covert missiles." Solder explained, leading the two over to the launch cradle in the centre of the service bay and using magic to flip a lever. a small flight of staircases slid out of the floor, which solder climbed, gesturing to the others to follow. "So I built this 'ere craft." Aero and trigger turned and looked at each other incredulously.

"B-but I thought...how..." Aero stammered in amazement. "It doesn't have...one of...one of _those_ does it?"

Solder burst out laughing. "A missile? Don't count on it. Do you know what would happen if it did?" He looked back at the other two stallions, who clearly didn't. "The whole thing would drop out of the sky. In pieces." Solder turned and hopped into the cockpit, while Aero and Trigger looked at each other, confused.

"So what does this have if it drops missiles?" Trigger asked. Solder gestured to a small console where the craft controller would be in a normal fighter. There was also a joystick and several buttons surrounding the screen. The craft controller itself was just below it.

"The fighter uses a joystick controlled radar gun to find the coordinates of an object." Solder explained. "The screen flashes them up and then sends them to the Javelin control hub, which then relays them to Stormcloud EWAPSC..."

"Which then drops a missile onto our specified target!" Aero finished, grinning. Solder nodded.

"Now you get the idea." The technician grunted, patting the aircraft's fuselage lovingly. "I call her the Raveneye pattern. Aero, this one is yours. Trigger, yours is in service bay Lambda, go see-" Solder Wire was cut off by a beep from a small device just above his forehoof. Five words flashed up on the display.

_Hostile launch detected. Launch Assets._

Solder swore, and vaulted out of the fighter's cockpit. The other two stallions looked confused, but Solder was already ordering them with a grim urgency.

"Trigger, get up to Service bay Lambda as fast as you can." He commanded, and, taking a moment to share a confused look, before cantering away and out the door. Aero watched as Solder jumped off the fighter, cantered to one of the chests and began throwing various items to the pegasus, who was still looking bemused. "Aero, we need you and the bird in the air as quick as possible!" Solder threw a coiled rope, a bow and a flight-suit, which Aero began pulling on and clipping to hooks on the flight suit. A helmet came next, followed quickly by a water capsule and a parachute, all of which had their spaces on the ochre flight suit. Solder was so preoccupied in getting Aero launched that he even threw the sword, which embedded itself in the Raveneye's hull. Aero pulled it out and sheathed it, before jumping into the cockpit and closing the canopy above him.

"Where do I go?" He asked, suddenly realising he had no clue of where he was supposed to be. Solder flipped a lever and pounded the engine of the fighter, making it flare into bright yellow light. The clamps slid back into the service cradle, and the Raveneye began to slip forwards through the air. Aero could just hear Solder shouting at him from the control platform.

"Head East!" He shouted. "You'll be briefed in mid-air!"

Then the Turbochang engine kicked into life and in a flash of light and sparks, the Raveneye shot out of the service bay. Aero Storm was forced uncomfortably back into the pilot seat, almost crying out as he felt the G-force slam his spine into an awkward curve. The pain only lasted briefly, as his body became accustomed to the new position. It was natural for fighter-ponies to sit in a strange way. Some of the veterans and officers even walked on their hind legs for some of the time **(2) **Aero took am moment to watch the land rolling away under him, before taking the joystick in one hoof and the throttle in the other. With a left ease on the joystick, Aero brought the craft round, until his nose was pointing east. Looking to his left, Aero saw five other craft blasting out of Javelin's service bays, and caught a glimpse of Trigger Happy grinning at him through the canopy of his Raveneye. There was a crackle on the onboard radio, and a familiar voice cut through the static.

"Rangers, this is Big Bird, come in rangers!" Despite not being on speaking terms with him, Aero could pick out the voice of Strike Commander Hachontofiyve easily. The radio became alive with voices.

"Ranger one, flight controls green."

"Ranger two, ready for action."

"Ranger three, still pissing you off!" Aero grinned as Trigger responded. He looked around for an indication for what number he was, and completely missed Ranger four's notification. He saw on the corner of the radar console a small number fiv in the top right corner.

"Ranger five calling in." He called into the mic on his flightsuit.

"Ranger charlie, watching your cutie!" The last pony in the flight made the report.

"Pilots, this is Commander Hachontofiyve, head of Operation Uproot. A large Changeling force is currently making good progress across the sea, Intel believes that their target is Konoko Fortress."

"Here we go..." Ranger four muttered.

"We are preparing a counter-strike, but Stormcloud EWAPSC is detecting a mass missile launch headed for Konoko, and more are on the way." The Commander's voice had everyone's attention. "Engineerponies need time to ready Konoko for transportation east, so your role is critical twicefold."

"What do you need commander?" Ranger one asked. Aero could see the leader's Raveneye, holding steady just next to Trigger Happy.

"One, provide co-ordinates of enemy missile bases allowing us to disrupt their bombardment. And two, call down fire suppourt on the larger changeling ships. For the duration of the operation, Ranger will be replaced by Rho in the callsigns, to make everything sound a little less corny." at this, Aero snorted, and Trigger burst out laughing.

"Good one sir!" Trigger chuckled.

"Indeed. Get up to 2000 feet and head south-east. Your birds have radar, so seek out pings and find us any radar. Where you find radar, you find changelings. We have located main targets at anchor in Maveric bay 5 klicks from your position on bearing 081. Do NOT concern yourself with the missiles; we have countermeasures. Give us the co-ords for targets and stay out of range of AA. The last thing I want is the loss of a squadron."

"Copy that," The squadron leader barked. "Formation proceeding to target bearing." Aero instinctively checked the position of the other craft, and grasped the controls tightly. In neat formation, the five craft swung round away from the base.

"And good luck."


	2. Operation Uproot

Tanth: Hey look, we have Zero Starlight on board now!  
Blue: EgeughakPONYLOVEReheughah!  
Tanth: Sorry?  
Blue: Eeerm...  
'bang'  
Tanth: WHEN WILL YOU LEARN DAMMIT?  
'Zero Looks Up From PC'  
Zero: Anyone smell gunpowder?

# # #

With a hiss of hydraulics, a section of the iron wall slid apart, and two figures entered. The first, a crimson unicorn with a heavy boltgun hanging from a strap around his back, was walking on his hind legs, the other, a drab, gunmetal grey earth pony, was trotting cautiously at the first one's heels. The room they had walked into was huge, and a large portion of the floor space was taken up by row upon row of computer terminals. The rest was taken up by a large tac-table, a series of hidden projectors and emitters generating a hard-light screen above the floor. Standing around the tac-table were two ponies and a human girl. One of the ponies, a rich purple colored Pegasus, turned as they entered, calling out to the upright stallion.

"Tanth!" She called, smiling with the hint of a slight blush as she stood on her own hind legs and walked over to him.

"Viona!" Tanth replied, smiling back as he embraced her. "I haven't seen you for weeks!"

"Well, the new site has demanded loads of attention..." Viona explained shyly, turning away a little. "You wouldn't believe how much went wrong with the hangars in the early stages."

The two ponies broke away, and Viona fell back onto four hooves again. "Almost forgot, this is squadron captain Rexas Vyron." Viona gestured to a black Pegasus, who was currently staring solemnly at the tac-table. "And this is Zoe Praxis, representing Strike Commander Starlight." She gestured to a thin red headed girl in grey cargo pants and a black t-shirt. Her arms were covered in tribal tattoos. She nodded at Tanth, and he returned the gesture.

"This is Spanner Works, one of my engineers," Tanth replied, putting an arm around the slightly nervous earth pony. "He'll be assisting Stormcloud with the missiles. Where exactly is Zero, though?" He asked, turning to Zoe, who shrugged.

"Somewhere in the stratosphere," She replied vaguely, "You never know where he is until you see the re-entry boom."

Suddenly, there was a crackle from the intercom system, and a grainy picture swam into view on the main screen. Tanth, Viona and the other ponies in the room paused, turning to view the feed as the picture focused on an aquamarine Pegasus in the cockpit of an aircraft. He looked panicked, his eyes darting between the lens of the camera and the air around him. The sound of muffled explosions and the screech of engines could just barely be heard over the roar of the wind howling against a shattered section of the canopy.

"This is Aero Storm, Rho five calling Stormcloud EWAPSC! Please come in!"

"Get this two way, NOW!" Tanth cried, and one of the engineer ponies tapped a few keys.

"Two-way comms... enabled." The pony on screen looked suddenly relieved.

"This is Strike Commander Hachontofiyve, come in Aero."

"Sir, contact has been made with the invasion fleet, they're halfway across the sea." Aero said, his face gritted with concentration. Behind the shattered cockpit glass, the world swung upside down. "Enemy AA defenses around the silo are beyond anything previously encountered. We've lost Rho 1, 4, and Charlie, and I don't think we'll be able to hold out much longer!'

Tanth was already facing the tac-table, his hooves dancing over the symbols on it's surface, barking out orders to the rest of the room.

"Get me a live uplink to Strike Commander Starlight! Wherever he is, we're gonna need him!"

* * *

The silence that filled the ship was broken as my SatGear buzzed. The device was a matte black and was in very good condition considering the fact that it was partially melted into the flesh of my left wrist after a surprise attack by a squad of Changeling Blaze.

"Strike Commander Tanth requesting live uplink." The display on the small device read.

"Confirm and display on screen, authorization code Omega Delta Echelon." I said quietly, what passed as a smile appearing on my face as Strike Commander Tanth Hachontofiyve appeared, the static eventually clearing and the video becoming focused. "Hello, Tanth. I trust you are doing well?"

"As far as it's possible when you're staring down the barrel of a full-scale invasion." The unicorn began, his bionic eye moving on it's own as he read whatever was being displayed by it, "This is it, Operation Uproot is being put into effect. Scouts have confirmed the existence of a large scale sea and airborne Changeling invasion force headed across the sea. Konoko Hydroplanes are currently conducting guerrilla actions on the ships, but we have confirmed missile locks on Konoko Fortress itself. Stormcloud's EMP network is online and anti-ballistic missiles are ready to launch, but we don't have enough to repel a determined salvo. We've got a squadron of prototype Raveneye jets on course to intercept, but hostile air defenses are significantly stronger than we thought and none of our pilots can get a steady lock on the silos."

"Should I send in the drones?" I asked, smirking. I had been waiting far too long to use that line.

"Sorry for bypassing your command, but most of Ramrod's aircraft are already covering the relocation operation. You feel up for a bit of fire support?" Tanth replied, and I sat up in my seat, all traces of humor gone as I ran checks on the Starstreak's subsystems. If Tanth had bypassed my command over Ramrod, then this was no small matter.

"Alright, get on the comms and let your team know I'm on my way. I'll do what I can, but I'd appreciate it if they knew I was friendly." I replied, preparing for reentry. The ship shook as the planet's gravity locked me in it's grip, the invisible barrier of the atmosphere heating the underside of the Starstreak.

"Oh yes, one final thing Zero." Tanth noted, not pausing for me to reply, "Zoe asked me to remind you that you owe her dinner, again."

I groaned and severed the connection, but not before seeing the mischievous smirk on Tanth's muzzle.

There would be time for that later, though, for as quick as reentry began, it was over, and I activated the powerful rockets at the back of my ship.

* * *

I arrived onsite minutes later, and it appeared I was just in time. The Raveneyes were taking heavy fire, and from the looks of it, they wouldn't last much longer without support.

"Hostile forces detected, activating combat mode..." A computer generated voice informed me, and the speed of the Starstreak reduced, a targeting reticule locking on to a Changeling Ghast. Squeezing the trigger, I watched as the high caliber rounds tore into the gigantic monster, distracting it from it's previous prey.

"Glad you could make it, Sir!" A voice called over the comms, and I was about to respond when one of the silos on the Changeling ship spewed smoke, a large missile quickly speeding away towards...

"Launch detected... Estimated destination; Konoko Fortress, Time to Impact; two minutes, twenty seconds..."

Shit. I was out of my seat and halfway down the corridor to the back ramp, grabbing my gun and knife, strapping a disposable parachute onto my back.

"Calculate missile trajectory and intercept at all costs. It is imperative that missile does not reach Konoko Fortress. Drop the tail ramp, thirty second interval."

"Objective confirmed, tail ramp opening..." As the Starstreak began to turn a small square of blue appeared, and I leaped through, the tail ramp closing moments later, and my ship sped off in hot pursuit of the missile.

I was in freefall. Below me lay a roiling mass of blue and white-capped water, Changeling forces dotting the air as I dropped. I twisted, my body acting like the wing flaps on a jet to spin me out of the way of a ball of explosive fire from another Ghast, and I pulled the cord of my parachute.

* * *

"Afternoon, bug eyes!" I yelled, releasing the parachute and dropping heavily onto the black chitinous form of a Changeling engineer. It screeched and collapsed, flailing as I grabbed it's head. With a sharp twist and a loud snap, I let the corpse tumble off of the ship and into the water.

The screech had been enough, though, and moments later a well armored Changeling warrior opened fire on me as I ducked behind a column. I checked me SatGear, smirking at the display. The missile was nearly halfway to Konoko, but the Starstreak was right on it's tail. With any luck, that missile would be grounded momentarily.

I grabbed a loose piece of debris from the ground and chucked it to my left, ducking out of cover and running at the Changeling, who had acted on instinct and opened fire on the debris, tearing it to shreds.

I grabbed it's head and threw it against the wall, "Face, meet wall." I quipped.

The impact produced a loud crack, and leaving a streak of green blood as the soldier dropped to the deck.

"Wall, this is a face."

* * *

Aero Storm yanked the control column of Raveneye 5 as far over as it would go, tipping the ailerons and sending the craft into a tight roll. The manoeuvre would've been graceful if 90% of the control surfaces didn't have holes blown through them, and if the Turbochang engine was producing power instead of flames. But graceful was not his primary objective, and the roll was enough to shift the wings away from the incoming flak rounds being fired from one of the huge guns on the deck of a Changeling battleship.

Aero dived down, avoiding a blaze round that shot over the shattered canopy and swooped low over the trees, skimming the blast shields of the missile silos and using the radar gun to obtain coordinates of one of the great missile housings. With a flick of a switch, the coordinates vanished from his screen, and he knew that they had gone into the missile targeting systems of Stormcloud EWAPSC.

As the belly of the raveneye just skimmed the control bunker, Aero lifted the nose of the jet, rolling to the left and discharging the last of the evasion capsules from the tail. The gunmetal grey cylinder spiralled earthwards for a millisecond before exploding in a blinding flash, a starburst of burning flares and chaff blooming in all directions. The two pursuing missiles from one of the air defence batteries streaked after the decoys, adding their fireballs to the debris now floating above the western end of the missile base.

Aero banked, flying in a wide arc around the base, swinging round and centering his sights on an Ender platoon in the centre of the canopy. Swooping low, Aero sped towards the platoon, repeatedly pressing the fire button on the control column. A storm of fireballs shot from the two dispensers mounted on either side of the cockpit. Half a dozen Endermen were felled in the first volleys, set alight or blasted into ashes. Aero flattened the throttle and pulled the column up, pulling the fighter clear of the flak guns which whirred as they spun to life, spraying the air around the fighter with white-hot high calibre bullets that ricocheted off the plated Netherrack of the hull.

Suddenly, with a pathetic whine, the turbochang engine at the back of the Raveneye cut out. Violet particles coursed across the cockpit instruments, and Aero swore. One of the endermen had released one of their power-sapping pearls. The craft was now electronically dead. Extending the slats and pulling the column as far back as it would go, Aero brought the craft's nose up hard, so that the underside of the wings were perpendicular to the direction of travel, and the aircraft itself was just verging on flipping upside down. Aero set the flaps to zero and pulled left on the control column, spinning the craft in mid-air to begin a dive. And then, with a colossal boom, a hypersonic railgun round punched straight through the fuselage, cracking part of one wing and sending the raveneye into utter chaos.

Aero wrestled with the control column, but not only was it moving with a mind of it's own, but the control cables were completely severed. Setting flaps to full, Aero desperately tried to tip the nose up, bringing all four hover jets on the underside of the craft online, but the circuitry was fried right down to the subatomic level, and the jets were going haywire, tipping the craft this way and that as it fell out of the sky. Aero reached up to pull the canopy release lever above his head, but his forehooves grasped thin air. Looking up, Aero saw the lever had gone, ripped away in the dive. Screaming in fear and terror, Aero Storm gripped the controls with all his might as, with a deafening crack, the already damaged left wing shattered completely, and as the remaining engine caught fire, the Raveneye was sent into a wild spin, hurtling down towards the Changeling Flagship.

The few seconds of terrifying freefall felt like centuries, as the pegasus gripped the control column with all his might, no longer trying to coax lift from the ruined wings, but just trying to lift the nose. As the G-force slammed his body back into the seat and threatened to knock him out, Aero pulled the stick back with him, trying to swing up the tortured elevators. A burst of flak rounds from the Flagship stitched a line of bullet holes across the falling craft, ripping away a good two thirds of the right wing and punching through the remainder of the canopy. Aero yelled in pain as the bullets raked across his right wing and shoulder, but fortunately the shells had lost a considerable amount of matter as they hit the canopy and were now little more than shotgun pellets. Of course, that didn't make it any less painful. Fuelled by pure, unleaded adrenaline, Aero continued to hold the control column as far back as possible. The sea was rushing up to him extremely fast, but with a metallic whine, something gave, and the ship began to rise.

The lack of the majority of both wings meant that now, although lift was at almost rock bottom, it was distributed evenly about the aircraft, and the minute amount of lift was still enough to raise the nose and send the craft skimming less than four metres above the surface of the ocean Barely conscious now, Aero continued to pull up, but suddenly the huge prow of the changeling flagship came into view. Aero had only time to scream an unrepeatable swear to the wind before the Raveneye smashed through the balustrade and slewed across the deck, crumpling and tearing and shedding pieces like a rapidly rotating python. The remains of the wings snapped off and the battered, ruined and utterly exhausted aircraft slid to a stop. Aero Storm, his vision dark and unfocused, just managed to catch a glimpse of a dark shape looming over the cockpit, and a hoof lifting a knife. As it descended Aero just had time to cry out before three shots rang out.

* * *

"Sir, we have a confirmed launch from one of the Changeling ships!" An engineer pony cried.

"Estimated time to impact?" Tanth replied, frowning.

"Calculating- Hold on..." The engineer frowned, confusion dominating his expression.

"What is it?" Tanth asked.

"Sensors have detected another incoming, but it's not a missile... Hang on, bringing up a live feed."

The monitor displayed a video of a large missile rocketing by, closely followed by a small ship.

"Is that the Starstreak?" Tanth asked, "I asked Commander Starlight to assist our Raveneyes..."

"Scans report no life onboard, sir!"

Tanth's eyes widened, "Zero must have seen the launch and sent the Starstreak to intercept it."

"Then where's the Commander?" Viona asked, frowning.

"The only place he could possibly drop to." Tanth replied, "Onboard one of the ships."

"Incoming communication! Signal location seems to be from one of the Changeling ships! Authorization codes are clean!"

"Patch it through, two way." Tanth instructed, and a shaky video replaced the deadly mid-air chase.

"Hello? This thing on?" A finger poked at the lens of the machine. Zero's face came into view, and he grinned. "Ah, good."

"What are you doing?" Tanth asked, "Why did you drop onto the Changeling ship?"

"I'm currently in the process of disabling the weapons on these things, but this operating system is ancient. Glad Zoe gave me that course a few weeks back, or this might not go so well."

"Wait, I never taught you how to use the old systems!" Zoe said, walking into view of the camera. Zero spotted her out of the corner of his eye.

"Oh, hey Zoe! Glad to see you. Sorry about dinner, I know I promised. Can't really talk right now, little busy doing a Panama and- Hold on." Zero turned away for a second, and a loud crack of gunfire sounded. "I swear these bugs have no idea how to knock!"

"What did you say?" Zoe asked, frown giving way to a look of minor horror.

He turned to the computer for a second and tapped a few keys. A satisfied grin appeared on his face. "And there we go! All done."

"Zero! Don't you dare pull a Panama!" Zoe yelled.

"Sorry, we're going through a tunnel, signal's breaking up!" Zero replied.

"You're in the middle of the sea, you-" Zoe shouted, before Zero cut the connection.

She turned to Tanth, "Get the Whitetalon and get to that ship."

Tanth nodded, already halfway out of the room.

Viona turned to Zoe with a worried expression on her face. "What's a Panama, Zoe?"

Zoe looked up, a frown on her face.

"Zero just programmed the core reactor on the Changeling ship to go critical. If he doesn't get out of range of the ensuing EMP blast, it'll overload the artificial life support systems that are keeping him alive."

* * *

I frowned as I closed the channel and embedded a liberal spread of ammunition into the console to ensure no messing with my plan. A timer projected into the air from my SatGear in blood red informed me that I had approximately two minutes to get out of there. As I ran towards the exit the device beeped twice and a synthesized voice spoke in my ear.

"Status Update: Starstreak Objective Complete with Complications." It informed me.

"Detail Complications." I muttered, and a moment later the SatGear's voice replied.

"Changeling missile was equipped with a large electromagnetic pulse bomb, which was detonated upon destruction of the missile."

"Detail the Starstreak's current condition." I jumped, swinging on a pipe above me as my feet connected with an oncoming Changeling, flinging the creature into a door which swung open, light shining from the outside.

"Starstreak's systems were damaged by the pulse and emergency protocol X7E3 was initiated, necessitating an emergency landing in the ocean. Damage to the Starstreak is minimal, but automated repairs will take time."

I swore. This was not good. I heard a cry for help to my left, and I turned, spotting the wreckage of one of the Raveneyes almost immediately. Trapped inside the buckled cockpit was a pony, desperately trying to fight his way out of the wreckage, A changeling rearing up over him, dagger poised to strike.

"Scans report 100% Equine DNA, and RFID Identification Tag confirms subject as a pilot from Javelin Facility." The SatGear's voice chimed. My pistol was out of it's holster before it had even finished. The dagger came down and I squeezed the trigger three times. The first shot blew off the creature's arm, the second bore into its chest and the third hit the changeling right between the eyes, blasting a large portion of brain, mane and fractured horn out through the back of its head.

"Oi, you could have someone's eye out with that!" I shouted as its mostly headless corpse collapsed to the floor. I holstered the pistol and sprinted across the deck, pausing only to bury the combat knife in a second changeling's head. I pointed at another Changeling, "Now, you! Wait a moment!"

The creature made a noise that implied confusion, and hesitated.

I turned to the colt stuck in the downed aircraft, one Aero Storm, according to my SatGear. I cocked the pistol and put two rounds into the canopy piston, allowing it to slide freely back.

"Hey, you must be Aero! Blimey, you seem to be stuck between a rock and a hard place, eh? Hold on a second, if you don't mind." I turned to the still baffled Changeling, "No hard feelings mate." I planted a few rounds between it's eyes, and turned back to Aero, holstering the pistol.

Grabbing the warped framework of the canopy, I heaved at it with all my strength, sliding it backwards into the Raveneye's broken fuselage. I hauled Aero out of the craft and slung him over my shoulder, setting up a comm link on the SatGear, looking up at the sky, where a lone craft was circling the airbases, trailing smoke from one of its wings.

"Anyone still up there? I called as I ran towards the prow of the ship, the SatGear picking up my words and boosting them up onto the airwaves. There was a crackle of static, and then a voice came through.

"This is Lance Corporal Trigger Happy aboard Rho 3, who is this?"

"Strike Commander Starlight, requesting evac from the prow of the Changeling Flagship!" I called into the SatGear, setting Aero on his hooves, slipping my pistol from its holster and significantly decreasing a pursuing changeling's chance of continuing to have a functioning brain.

"But sir, this craft is neither built for evac nor does it have the armour to get close to those kind of AA systems!" Trigger protested.

Discarding the current magazine from my pistol, I slotted in a large, drum shaped magazine and fired a three-round burst at the huge Flak gun on one of the higher tiers of the battleship. As they struck, they bloomed into flame, tearing the gun to pieces in a series of deafening explosions.  
"What AA systems?" I asked innocently, grinning. There was a pause over the radio.

"On hot approach now, commander," Trigger called, and I watched as the Raveneye peeled off from attacking the silos and swooped down towards the battleship. An automated Flak gun on the other side of the ship clattered into life, but in its attempt to hit Trigger, the shells punched into the bridge of the ship, which exploded, showering the deck with pieces of miscellaneous white-hot debris. The Raveneye turned, slowing its approach as the pilot cut power to the main Turbochang engine and brought the four hover jets online and the craft stopped, hovering just in front of the huge battleship, turning so that its wing acted as a makeshift gangplank. As a squad of Changeling guards burst out onto the deck, I made jumping motions at Aero, who nodded, and leapt across the gap between ship and plane, landing hard on the wing. I gripped the pistol in both hands, letting off precise bursts of fire to keep the changelings at bay while Aero got a decent grip on the Raveneye's wing.

"Alert: Reactor power surge in ten seconds." The SatGear's synthesized voice announced. Swearing, I turned my back on the Changelings and leapt onto the balustrade.

"It would've been nice to know that sooner!" I yelled at the device before leaping onto the Raveneye's wing. With one hand I grabbed a convenient handhold, with the other I sent another changeling to Pinkie Jones' locker. "Get us out of here!" I yelled into the SatGear's radio, and almost instantaneously, the great Turbochang roared into life. I looked back in triumph at the guards on the deck.

"Adios, fair asshats! " I yelled back to them in triumph. "You will always remember this as the day you almost killed-" My words of farewell were cut short, as the Changeling Flagship exploded.

# # #

Although they weren't caught up in the explosion, Aero still felt the tingling sensation of the EM wave passing through him. In the cockpit, Trigger cried out in alarm as the Turbochang, the hover jets and indeed the entire craft died completely. And on the wing, a few feet from Aero, Zero Starlight let out an unearthly scream, his body rippling with waves of electricity. The craft immediately began to lose height, Trigger looked up from the dead controls just in time to see beach rushing up towards him. The bottom of the Raveneye entered the shallows, pushing a bow wave of spray in front of it. Trigger caught a glimpse of a sand dune speeding towards them, and with a boom, the Raveneye punched into it at six hundred miles an hour.

# # #

Author's Note: Yeah, I made a Splinter Cell Conviction joke. Problem? XD Favorite and review, and I'll see you in the future! - Co-author Zero

Another author's Note: Yeah, Zero and I have teamed up to make the most badass MLP fic feasible. Fav and review, trusted readers! - Co-author Tanth


	3. Something Nasty Brewing

Chat DocumentHere

Ideas DocumentHere

# # #

Chapter 3: Brace For Impact

By; Zero_Starlight and Tanthachon25

# # #

The first thing that gave her the indication that the she was awake was the floor. Cold, hard and encrusted with something. The filly opened her eyes slightly. A face swam into focus. That of an emerald-green colt, and by the way his coat glimmered, she could tell he was a crystal pony. He reached out a hoof towards her, and not fully knowing what she was doing, she took it. Peppermint Crème took the hoof, and got gingerly up, looking around at her surroundings. They were standing in a huge, dimly lit room, with no doors, windows or any other features. It was simply a huge metal and concrete box.. There were about fifty other foals there, looking around in confusion, most looked like they were only a few years off stallion/marehood. The metallic floor was covered in dark stains, which in the poor light could not be defined. Peppermint turned, finding the colt looking at her in an inquisitive way.

"Are you alright?" He asked. His voice was gentle, slightly higher than she would've expected. Peppermint looked at herself as best she could, checking for anything. "My name's Emerald Sparkle. What's yours?"

"Peppermint Crème, and I think I'm okay." she said, looking back at her pale, cream-coloured flank and wings and dark blue tail, both of which seemed undamaged by… Peppermint couldn't finish that thought. She had no idea where she was or how she had got there. "Where are we?" She asked.

"No idea." The crystal colt said, looking around. "All I remember is a flash, like a teleportation spell. But who would want to do that?"

As if on cue, a voice spoke from some kind of PA system, the speakers of which weren't visible. It was a pompous voice, the kind that belonged to a radio announcer or someone else along those lines, and its speech sent waves of unease and confusion through the fillies and colts in the room.

"Welcome, contestants, to the 23rd Annual Primaris Death Run Series!"

"Death Runs?" Peppermint murmured to Emerald, who was looking shocked. "That doesn't sound good."

"I have a nasty feeling it isn't." Emerald muttered, as with a lurch, the room started to move, rising slowly, giving Peppermint the sensation that her insides were slowly slipping out of her body. A thundering grinding sound accompanied the movement, and about twenty seconds later, the grinding stopped and the room shuddered to a noisy halt. It was replaced by silence.

"What do you think happens now?" Peppermint asked Emerald fearfully. Before the colt could answer, the wall in front of them slid down and the ceiling slid backwards to reveal a huge, rectangular arena, about as wide as the room. Above the arena's walls was a 3-metre high fence sticking out at a 45 degree angle, and above those stood row upon row of bleachers, the occupants of which, Emerald recognised with a jolt of horror, were changelings. The crowd was cheering and jeering and generally making a non too comforting racket at the ponies now standing before the arena gate. Along the corridors at regular intervals were strange objects, each with a tube containing what looked like a spear. There were other things as well, small metal plates with blinking red lights and something which looked like nothing more than an oversized cannon, painted with a smirking demonic face along its sides.

"The dynamics of the run are ridiculously simple. Get to the goal at the end of the arena." The announcer began, and a blue gateway flashed at the end of the corridor. "Survive the hazards," one of the disks near the ponies exploded violently, with a bang that made Peppermint squeak with terror. "And you enter the next round. Survive all four rounds, and you leave with your life. Now please enter the course. Oh yes, and for those wishing to self-terminate, you have only to ask. We aim to be as accommodating as possible." The sarcastic jab prompted jeers and cruel laughter from the stands.

"Why?" came a shout from the group of ponies. Peppermint looked round and saw a dark purple colt defiantly looking up at the crowds. "Why in the hell should we play along, huh?!" The PA announcer fell silent, and the ponies looked at each other hopefully. Then, with a hiss, a wall-mounted crossbow swung out of a wall and sent a bolt winging towards the colt. The bolt hit him flank-on, so hard that it punched straight through him and its metal head burst out from his other flank in a spray of blood. The colt gave a gasp, then a sigh, before his eyes glazed over and he toppled sideways.

"Let that be an incentive." The announcer's voice rang out again, and the crossbow swivelled, around to pick a new target, a fresh bolt already in the groove. The ponies, panicking now and not wanting to suffer the same fate, ran forward into the arena. Emerald put a hoof round Peppermint's neck, and gave her a reassuring look.

"I'll protect you." He murmured, and they stepped into the arena, into hell. As the crowd of ponies got in range of the first cluster of tubes, the spears, or harpoons as peppermint could now see they were, hissed from their tubes towards the ponies, some trailing thin cords of cable. The first harpoons hit the ponies, and the arena instantly became a bloodbath. Only two ponies, a grey, monochrome mare and a sea-green stallion made it out uninjured. Some were lucky, blasted apart by the harpoons force, and some were hit square in the head and neck, dead instantly. Some weren't so lucky. One colt was struck in the chest, and hoisted up into the air by the cable, screaming in agony as the barbed tip prevented the harpoon from slipping out. One mare was struck in the shoulder, her front legs locking as the tendons snapped, and hit the ground with a sickening crack.

Peppermint and Emerald broke into a run, sprinting towards the archway. Suddenly, Emerald spotted a harpoon launcher swing in their direction, and the stallion grabbed Peppermint and dived to the floor, pulling the filly with her. A blood-red unicorn stallion leered at them as he ran past, only to be picked out by the harpoon's targeting system and impaled. The force of the shot blasted him across the arena, slewing to a halt next to one of the landmines. The stallion tried to get up, but collapsed onto the mine as the Harpoon dug deeper into his flesh. One of his hooves caught the landmine. Emerald covered Peppermint's eyes as the stallion's screams were drowned out by the explosion.

The two ponies got to their feet and ran to the exit, which was less than 20 metres away. Peppermint looked back for a second, tears in her eyes at the amount of bloodshed behind her. Emerald was focused on the exit, so neither of them saw the last harpoon shoot from its launcher towards them. Peppermint turned, and caught a glimpse of the speeding harpoon, crying out in terror. Emerald turned, and saw the incoming projectile. Suddenly there was a flash of grey, and the mare who'd survived the first wave of harpoons leapt in front of the harpoon, holding a ripped-off launcher like a shield. The harpoon punched through the makeshift shield, stopping barely three inches short of the mare's skin. The winch on the harpoon's launcher activated, and the mare let go, turning to the two ponies cowering there.

"Just keep going!" She yelled, turning and galloping towards the exit archway. Peppermint was still sobbing at the carnage, so Emerald slung the filly onto his back and galloped after the mare.

"Wait!" He called, galloping after her. About a dozen other ponies had made it through the run, and they were hot on Emerald's heels. Another harpoon fired, skewering a colt and ripping him back so hard his whole body was torn in half. The archway started to shrink as a huge door began sliding down, and Emerald dived for the safety of the exit chamber, sliding the last two metres into the darkened room, Peppermint still sobbing. Another pony made it into the chamber, followed by three more. Emerald lifted Peppermint off his back and turned to find the grey pony standing next to him.

"Thank you…" He panted, as another foal slid under the door before it clanged shut. "But why did you save us?"

"If we're facing almost certain death, we have higher survival chances if we work together." The grey pony said, holding out a hoof. "Name's Inkie Pie, and you're welcome."

# # #

Trigger Happy groaned as he regained consciousness, finding himself hanging upside down by the safety harness of his seat. His head ached, and the sight in his left eye was tinted red, a burst blood vessel bleeding across his vision.

He looked around, swinging slightly. His ship was a wreck, sand slowly seeping through cracks in the now floorified canopy and a large hole had been ripped through one side of the cockpit where the wing had sheared off. It was a shame, really. The old girl had made it through so much, only to meet her end at the metaphorical hands of a sand dune. Not the most glorious of enemies to be taken down by.

Trigger grabbed the release lever on the azure-dyed leather harness, which snapped open. The pegasus dropped none too gracefully to the canopy, thanking celestia that it was designed to withstand impacts greater than a small pony falling onto it. He grunted, flipping and getting back to his hooves. He turned and crawled under the inverted pilot's seat into the ruined fuselage, grabbing one of the jagged edges and prising the great gash in the hull open until he could slip through without too much difficulty, landing gently on the sand. Now to find Strike Commander Starlight and Aero...

It didn't take long to find Commander Starlight, you just had to follow the screams of agony. Trigger's eyes widened as he watched the Commander's body contort, sparks causing his arms and legs to flail in unpredictable motions. Trigger could only watch in horror as Commander Starlight's body went limp, falling onto his back as an acidic smelling smoke seeped from charred sections of his flesh, some with blackened metal poking out through them.

"Commander Starlight!" He cried, galloping towards the still twitching body.

_Warning, fatal system overload detected, purging..._

Trigger was thrown back as a literal shockwave of electricity was discharged from Commander Starlight's body. Trigger blinked, and felt warmth on his head. A hand shakily reached up and pinched an area of his newly spiked mane that had caught fire.

"Commander Starlight! You're OK!" Trigger said, smiling at Zero.

"If by OK you mean barely surviving, then yes, I'm doing fan-fucking-tastic." Zero wheezed, pulling himself shakily to his feet. "That discharge of extra energy thanks to that bloody EMP blast has pretty much disabled all but the most basic life support systems, and those won't keep me alive for long. I need to get to an access terminal as soon as possible so I can reboot my systems."

"No luck here, Sir!" Aero said as he galloped up to the pair. "The ship's terminal must have broken off in the crash, we need to get in contact with base."

"Yeah, I'd love to do so, but my SatGear is one of the things that isn't getting any power, and from the looks of it the comms systems got blown out due to the EMP blast." Zero replied, coughing.

"Well, well, well..." A buzzing voice spoke, and the trio looked up. "Looks like we've got some new contestants!"

"Trigger, Aero! Get do-" Zero began, before a dart embedded itself in his neck, and he fell to the ground, followed shortly by Trigger and Aero.

# # #

The iron blast doors were barely open before Tanth was through them, Spanner Works hot on his heels. The Rail Station built into the fabric of Stormcloud EWAPSC lay in front of them, a vast chamber hollowed out of the bare rock and stretching back for at least 200 metres into the earth. Numerous rail lines snaked across the stone floor into as many tunnels cut into the far wall, linking the Facility to the whole Othellitan Defence Line. Running across the platforms, Tanth leapt onto one of the rail lines, bounding over the high voltage sleepers and sliding under a munitions truck that lay in the siding.

The Strike Commander used the coupling array to swing himself onto the opposite platform, jumping onto a flatbed car and vaulting the missile strapped to the pinewood bed. Two lines over, a small assembly of driving and passenger vehicles were slipping into the station. Landing hard on the platform, Tanth fired up his horn, and in a blink of silver-tinted light, the Strike Commander blinked out of existence. Spanner, skidding to a halt, looked around in confusion to see where his superior had gone. Then, with a flash, Tanth punched back into reality on the service platform of the driving vehicle, using his magic to flip a lever on the driving console.

A series of clanks and hisses issued from the machine, before it reared up off the rails, throwing the Strike Commander back onto the passenger segment. The driving vehicle's wheels folded up and the whole assembly swung over the top of the passenger vehicle, Tanth flipping a lever on the command console as it passed overhead. The wheels were spinning before they even slammed down onto the rails, the assembly now pointing into the darkness of the tunnel. Steam began to pour from the vents on the driving vehicle's flanks, and the assembly began to move. A cry from Tanth's left caught his attention, and he turned in time to see Spanner pelting towards him across the platform.

Tanth reached out a hoof towards him as Spanner leapt the gap between the train and the platform. For a moment he wobbled backwards on his hind legs, as if he were about to fall under the vehicle. But suddenly Tanth grabbed his hoof and pulled him away from the edge. Five seconds later, the assembly had disappeared into the tunnel and they were plunged into darkness.

"Spanner, I'm going to need you to relay some orders back to Javelin command." Tanth commanded, using his magic to light up a two-metre wide sphere of space around them. "We've got two pilots, an experimental aircraft and a strike commander dead in the water. I'm taking Whitetalon far south to try and find them, so I need you to send a fleet of Ironhooves with me. The changeling fleet has almost hit Konoko, so get two squadrons of Flintwings and a Bident formation to back up Ramrod's craft. Tell Lt. Guided Bomber code Epsilon. He'll know what to do."

"Why are you telling me this instead of giving them yourself?" Spanner asked, confused. Tanth looked down the tunnel, the rush of air and clacking of wheels growing louder. A pinhead of light appeared at the end of the tunnel, rapidly growing larger. And now spanner was aware of another sound, a cross between a roaring sound and that of a wind chime: a mystical turned, grinning widely at the engineer.

"This is my stop." He replied, crouching in the seat like a coiled manticore about to strike. The light at the end of the tunnel kept growing and in the space of a second, they were out into the sun. The assembly was hurtling along a wooden viaduct spanning two mountains, the tracks disappearing into the darkness of another tunnel, 200 metres away. Swinging in to the right of the viaduct, some twenty feet below the track level was a magnificent ship. Four turbochang engines blasted intermittent jets of golden force, and six hover jets on its underside roared, keeping the craft airborne. The front half of the craft was sleek and geometric, a tilted, elongated pyramid with the hardened glass of the cockpit merged seamlessly with the fuselage. A widened 5 pointed star extended from the nose cone carrying several of the craft's control surfaces and a . The curved cobblestone wings were swept forward like a crescent moon, and halfway along each wing, rocket pods had been built into the stone, each carrying about three-dozen projectiles. The craft's name was embossed in sapphire just below the rim of the canopy.

_Whitetalon._

Tanth turned, nodded a farewell to Spanner, and then launched himself off of the assembly, over the edge of the Viaduct. Spanner gasped in horror, peering over the edge of the viaduct to see the canopy of Whitetalon slide backwards, and with a soft thump, the Strike Commander landed deftly in the cockpit of his craft. Instantly, the hover jets flared as one, the canopy slid back, and a small, cylindrical object which Spanner would later discover to be a remote command module, jettisoned away from the ship. The Whitetalon rose gracefully up, past the bridge, and Spanner just caught a friendly salute from Tanth before the craft blasted away in a roar of sound

**Just to say, Zero has had to leave the team for a bit of R & R...or something. And for those who want to see Steve here, you shall be disappointed. Sorry. **

**- Tanth **


End file.
